What is Global Warming?

When the gases carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are released into the air they blanket the earth, trapping heat inside the atmosphere. This is what we call the greenhouse effect, since it keeps Planet Earth at the right temperature for life to grow and thrive, much as a greenhouse does for our plants. The problem is that, since industrialization, human activities have caused an enormous and unnatural increase in the output of greenhouse gases. The increase in these gases has caused the greenhouses effect to intensify.

Livestock making things worse 

Humans count on being excused for burping and farting but it’s becoming more difficult to excuse our animal friends. Fossil fuel consumed by the factory farm industry is a major contributor to global warming but so is animal flatulence, making livestock production the main source of human-made methane emissions, responsible for 22% of the total human contribution.¹

Methane is one of the three gases thought to be responsible for global warming, second only to carbon dioxide as a contributor to human-made greenhouse gas emissions. The overall contribution of methane to global warming is significant – it’s estimated to be 21 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide! Over the last two centuries, the concentration of methane in the atmosphere has more than doubled.

Methane is produced by bacteria in the stomachs of ruminants such as sheep, cattle, and goats and is farted and belched out by the animals. Even more methane is produced by manure kept without oxygen in the liquid systems commonly used on factory farms. Manure is responsible for 4% of the human contribution to global methane emissions, as well as for 7% of emissions of nitrous oxide (an even more aggressive greenhouse gas). If humans continue to raise such a huge numbers of animals, the gas problem can only get worse.

Raising animals for food also contributes to global warming indirectly. Forests are cut so that more land can be used to grow food for livestock to eat. This leads to fewer and fewer trees that can absorb carbon dioxide, the most abundant greenhouse gas.

References

1.      US Environmental Protection Agency.